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The threat of the fiscal cliff has been buzzing for weeks, but what will happen if lawmakers can't agree on a plan? Jennifer Westhoven takes a look at how the fiscal cliff could affect you. Your paychecks could immediately get knocked if there's no change in what could happen in the payroll tax," she notes. She adds a lot of businesses have already slowed down in fear of the cliff. Enjoy.

Now that the dust has settled from the Black Friday frenzy, it's not hard to see why consumer credit took a major leap in the fall. Control holiday spending by creating a budget and setting aside the total amount you plan to spend, says personal finance expert Lynnette Khalfani-Cox. Enjoy.]]>

LeBron James is a very rich man. Thanks to the endorsement deals he has with everyone from Nike to Samsung, LBJ is paid in a major way. But, did you know that he's so rich that even Warren Buffet is jealous of what he's got going for him right now? In a piece published in the The Miami Herald, writer Elaine Walker takes a closer look at the big business surrounding Bron-Bron and talks to a number of different people who, quite frankly, sound stunned by how much King James has accomplished at the age of 27. Check out the piece here. But, beware, Bron haters: This story is obviously not for you. [Read More]

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett and LeBron James seem like an odd couple. But James’ friendship with the second richest man in the United States tells the story of another side of the Miami Heat superstar. As focused as James has been on his goal of winning NBA championships, he’s just as driven off the court about building a business empire and breaking the billion-dollar mark, an accomplishment golfer Tiger Woods was the first athlete to achieve.

“You have to get to know him,” Buffett said. “LeBron’s not initially really talkative. He’s savvy. He’s smart about financial matters. It’s amazing to me the maturity he exhibits. I know that if I had been famous at that age, I would have had trouble keeping my feet on the ground.”

Those are pretty big compliments coming from Buffett, the world’s leading investment guru, who at 82 could easily be the grandfather of James, 27. Yet the age difference and James’ lack of a college degree haven’t been a barrier to a friendship that includes Buffett providing occasional business advice.

Buffett isn’t the only high-profile executive James counts as a friend. You’ll find him in the company of people as diverse as Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Hollywood producer Tom Werner, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and music mogul Jay-Z. It was actually James who introduced Heat owner and Carnival Chief Executive Micky Arison to Ballmer.

At an investment conference a few years ago attended by chief executives from some of the largest Fortune 500 companies, Buffett says his friend James could more than hold his own.“People were more interested in meeting him than in meeting me,” Buffett said. “He doesn’t need me to introduce him, that’s for sure.”

Coming off the best season of his career, James needs no introduction to corporate America. The NBA’s most valuable player had his pick of endorsement offers and business opportunities as the Heat sets out to defend its championship. The first new deal puts James as a brand ambassador for Samsung’s new cellphone, the Galaxy Note II. Ads featuring James launched during the Heat’s opener this week.

“It’s really LeBron’s world right now,” said Bob Dorfman, executive creative director of Baker Street Advertising in San Francisco and the author of the Sports Marketing Report, who estimates any deals James signs will be a minimum of $1 million a year with a five-year term.

Gas prices have hit an all-time high in California, as the state-wide average got all the way up to $4.655 per gallon, according to AAA's report on Sunday. Of course, people living in metropolitan areas fared the worst; plenty of motorists paid $5/gal or more, and a few were even duped by a gouger in Long Beach who charged an absurd $6.65/gallon. That's almost as bad as England's $1.92/litre ($7.27/gallon).

Apparently, Terrell Owens isn't the only former NFL player struggling right now. Six years ago, Vince Young signed a rookie contract with the Tennessee Titans worth about $26 million in guaranteed money after they selected him with the third pick overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. And, in theory, that kind of money should have lasted him forever. But, thanks to a series of bad business decisions—and, according to his lawyer, some unethical acts by his former agent Major Adams and a financial advisor named Ronnie Peoples—VY has blown through just about all of his cash. [Read More]

"I would just say that Vince needs a job," Young's attorney Trey Dolezal told the Associated Press when asked about his current financial situation.

Young was released by the Bills prior to the start of the 2012-13 NFL season after spending last year as Michael Vick's backup in Philadelphia. But, there is hope for Young to get out of the poor house soon. He claims Adams and Peoples misappropriated about $5.5 million out of his contract, and he's suing them right now to try and get that money back.

But, they say Young has been spending his money recklessly for the last six years and that they've never taken a dime from him. So, who's telling the truth? Well, a judge will decide that. But, it's worth pointing out that Young also owes about $2 million to a company called Pro Player Funding, LLC right now for a loan that he took out during the 2011 NFL lockout.

So, something tells us that, even if he does win the lawsuit, this isn't going to end well for him. We hope we're wrong.

Rihanna sued her former accountants this week, blaming them for tens of millions of dollars in losses, shoddy bookkeeping, a failure to recommend she trim expenses when a 2009 tour was losing money and an ongoing audit by the Internal Revenue Service. The lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan sought unspecified damages against New York-based Berdon LLP and two accountants. A Berdon spokeswoman said the company had no immediate comment. [Read More]

The singer, suing under her real name, Robyn Fenty, alleged through her attorneys that the defendants drained tens of millions of dollars from revenues while she launched four national and international tours over a five-year period.By the "Last Girl on Earth" tour in 2009, Rihanna learned that the tour had managed "significant net losses" despite robust revenues, though the defendants had managed to pocket 22 percent of the tour's total revenues while paying Rihanna just 6 percent of revenues, the lawsuit said. It said Berdon's unusual accounting practice of paying itself a percentage of gross tour income as commissions left it no incentive to "counsel" Rihanna to reduce expenses or put in place appropriate financial controls.

The lawsuit alleged that the practice of paying itself commissions on revenues was not standard in the accounting and business management industry and created a clear conflict of interest. Rihanna's lawyers also blamed the accounting firm for an ongoing IRS audit of her tax returns, saying she was forced to spend significant resources to correct errors resulting from negligence. Since firing the firm and its accountants in September 2010, Rihanna's fortunes already have reversed, the lawsuit said. The "Loud" tour stretching from June 2011 to December 2011 produced a net profit equal to more than 40 percent of total tour revenues, it added.

According to the lawsuit, the singer hired the accountants in 2005 when she was a 16-year-old from Barbados launching her career. She alleged that they repeatedly breached their agreements, engaged in misconduct and malfeasance, paid themselves excessive commissions, created entities without regard to their effect on her taxes and failed to document revenue and expenses and implement a proper budget.

The lawsuit also blamed the company for Rihanna's 2009 purchase of a new home, saying competent business managers would have told her that her tour was losing money and that it would not be advisable to buy such an expensive home at that time. Last year, Rihanna sued a real estate company in Los Angeles over the $6.9 million purchase of a hillside home in 2009, saying it had serious structural defects that made it inhabitable.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has ended Tiger Woods' long run as the world's highest-earning athlete by taking the title himself. The boxing champ, who is currently incarcerated, has ended Tiger's incredible ten-year reign as the highest-paid athlete in a new Forbes rich list. Floyd's victorious fights with Victor Ortiz and Miguel Cotto, the latter of whom he fought in May, have earned him a staggering $85 million. [Read More]

Floyd's rival c takes the second place with $62 million (39 million), pushing Tiger to third position with $59.4 million (£37.1 million). Unfortunately for him, Floyd will have to celebrate the news behind bars as he is currently completing a three-month prison stint for a domestic abuse charge.

Mitt Romney isn’t the richest person to ever run for President – Ross Perot had him beat by a factor of ten. So just how rich is he? From hedge funds to his kids' $100 million trust, it took our friends at Forbes a month to reveal the most definitive valuation of the man who would be the richest President ever. Enjoy. (unless your broke...)

Spotify is moving up in the world. Just a couple months ago, reports emerged that the music streaming company was trying to raise money from investors at a $3.5 billion valuation— but some doubted that it was actually worth that much. Today, though, DealBook reports that Spotify is successfully raising hundreds of millions at a valuation of not $3.5 billion, but a full $4 billion. [See & Read More]

Goldman Sachs is leading the investing round, and is expected to purchase a $100 million stake in the company. Several other firms are said to be in talks for a piece of the pie, and Spotify may bring home up to $220 million from the round. Founded in 2006 in Sweden and arriving on U.S. shores last summer, Spotify has approximately 20 million users and has grown steadily since integrating with Facebook earlier this year.